Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Five

Natalie

Cass led me through a beautifully decorated foyer and into an elevator. He pushed four as the doors whispered shut. It was surprisingly comforting being inside and listening to the mechanics work. A familiar feeling and sound. I took a deep breath, centering myself the way I did before a big meeting.

I squared my shoulders, but then looked at my reflection in the shining metal door and wilted. I loved my curly hair, I embraced it, but right now in this heat and humidity, with no products, I looked like someone’s lost poodle.

No big deal, I am just standing next to the most handsome man on the planet looking like a total mess.

I reached up and tried to smooth it a little, wincing. The amount of frizz was cringeworthy.

The doors dinged open and I followed Cass out into a long hall. He knocked on the first door on his right, and another unbelievably handsome man answered it. He gestured us inside, and there was another man and three women, all absolutely beautiful people.

I’d fallen out of the real world and into the twilight zone where every single person looked like a supermodel. I tried to project confidence, keeping my face neutral even though a flurry of emotions were stirring in my stomach. What a strange mixture of frightened and overwhelmed and nervous and curious.

I glanced at the people on my left. The man had dark auburn hair and a beard. The woman was Asian, with beautiful, smooth ebony hair. They both had full sleeves of tattoos and I could see various others poking out from underneath their clothes. They were obviously a couple, the way he held her to his side. The man was eyeing me, and then I saw his nostrils flaring. Was he sniffing me?

"I don't know, she smells human to me," he told Cass.

"That’s why I didn’t ask you," Cass said. "You wolves are the least perceptive species, I swear…"

Wait, wolves?

"Finn," the woman scolded, "you’re making her uncomfortable. People don't sniff other people in the human world."

Wait, human world?

She smiled at me. "Hi, I’m Kat, and this is Finn. That’s Gideon and Eris. And River."

I looked around as she introduced everyone. I could tell right away Finn and Gideon were brothers.

Gideon looked like a business executive, the one I would pick to be the CEO if this was a conference or meeting. His hair was a darker shade than Finn’s, but they had the same hazel eyes.

Eris was a striking beauty with ash-blonde hair that fell in waves down her back and amber eyes. She had her hand on Gideon's shoulder, eyeing me with an intense curiosity that made me feel naked.

River was also blonde, but more platinum. She wore all black. Black lipstick, and heavy but masterfully applied all black eye makeup, and black robes. She looked serious, and I felt like she, too, was gazing into my soul. A giant butterfly that I thought was a gaudy hairpiece flapped its wings, making me suck in a breath as it flew a circle around me.

It landed back on her head and rested there when it was done.

"Hmm, you are right, Cass. This young lady is a witch."

Cass

My heart sank. Of all things, I was hoping she wasn’t a witch. I just didn’t like witches. I also didn’t know why it mattered to me. Because it shouldn’t. Why did I care?

It was because she looked so much like Elizabeth, and reminded me of her too. Stubborn and fierce. I thought about asking River about it, but I didn’t want to. Those were my personal memories. What if it was nothing? I didn’t want everyone to know about my past.

‘I want her,’ Crux grumbled. ‘Let us keep her.’

‘Shut up. Not this one. She needs to go back to wherever she came from.’

I was already afraid of the feelings I was dealing with regarding her. We weren’t going there. I couldn’t get attached in any way to this woman. Even just touching her briefly had stirred my blood. There was something about her. Besides, she thought I was a creepy kidnapper. I doubted she was up for drinks later.

I glanced over at Natalie and she grinned at River’s announcement, like she might laugh.

"More precisely, she’s a nulla," River said, stepping closer and peering at Natalie as if she could see something in her.

I felt the blood drain from my face. First she resembled Elizabeth, almost exactly, so much so that it was hard for me to look at her. And now she’s a nulla?

"A what?" Kat asked.

Kat had been brought up in the human world as well. She was half kitsune, half wolf shifter, and had been raised by her kitsune parents. Her biological father was a wolf shifter. She didn’t understand everything about the supernatural realm yet. I would always have a soft spot in my heart for her though, as she was the one who had dealt the killing blow to my piece of s**t father.

River repeated, "A nulla. A girl who is of witch blood but has no magical powers."

Natalie laughed dryly, looking around. "Okay, I’m sorry, but you people are crazy. I don’t know what kind of sick games you’re all playing, but I’m done. I’m done with this."

She threw up her hands, as if to make a point of how done she was.

"What’s your birthday?" River asked.

Natalie stared at her. Finally, she said, "March fifth, or around there somewhere. I was adopted as a baby, so they don’t know for sure."

"Ah, a Pisces," River answered. "Okay, Natalie, I’m going to guess two very specific things about you, and you tell me if I’m correct."

Natalie crossed her arms over her chest, but nodded.

"First, you’ve got a mole, or beauty mark, about two fingers width below your naval."

Natalie blanched, reaching for her stomach. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Second, you’ve got a strong affinity for water. You love it, and find that you’re a strong and naturally talented swimmer."

Natalie stared at her, mouth hanging open. Kat and Finn were snickering, probably saying something to each other through their mate bond mind link.

"Well, is she right?" Finn asked.

"Ye-yes," Natalie stuttered.

She lifted up her shirt as if to check if she really had a beauty mark there. It was in the exact place River predicted. I felt suddenly like I wanted her to put her shirt down, which was odd for me. I didn't like Finn and Gideon seeing that bare skin. They were both mated men and wouldn't have given a s**t if twenty naked women paraded in here right now, but I still didn't like it. I shifted on my feet.

'We need to get away from her,' I said, not liking these feelings.

Crux snorted. 'I disagree. We need to claim her, then we can let her go.'

I rolled my eyes, ignoring that comment and the thoughts it provoked to refocus on the conversation.

"I swam competitively in college," Natale muttered, as if talking to herself. "I could’ve possibly made the Olympic team, but I didn’t try out."

"So that’s how she got so close to the ward?" Gideon asked. "It didn’t repel her because it recognized her blood as supernatural?"

River nodded, clasping her hands at her waist. "I would assume so, yes, Alpha."

Natalie looked at me, asking, "Is this real?"

"It is. Everyone in this room, including yourself, is a supernatural being. All the stories you were told as a child are at least somewhat true. Vampires, witches, werewolves, fae—they’re all real."

"And dragons," Finn added, arching an eyebrow at me.

Gideon was more interested in the ward situation than Natalie coming to terms with her entire reality being destroyed.

"So why did the ward break?" he asked.

River frowned, tapping her lips with her pointer finger. "I don’t know. It might have something to do with the curse she’s had placed on her. Rhia is at the ward now, looking at it. She’s better at rune work than I am."

Rhia was River’s wife, an air witch. We didn’t interact much, mostly ignoring each other. When we did speak it was hostile at best. She didn’t like dragons. I didn’t like witches.

"Curse? Is it Morga?" I asked.

"Yes, a curse. If she has the mark and such a strong affinity for water, then Natalie is not really a nulla. Someone has suppressed her magic to make her seem as though she is. This young lady is certainly a witch of the water. Morga’s magic is dark, I would recognize it anywhere. This magic is light, which makes it even more curious." River tapped her lips again, her eyes searching Natalie for an answer. "You said you were adopted? Do you know anything about your birth parents?"

Natalie shook her head, still looking rattled. She hadn’t run away screaming yet, so she was doing better than most humans. "I was a firehouse baby. You know, the parents leave the baby at the firehouse. The safe haven law. No one ever knew who they were. I was adopted by the Newsoms when I was still an infant."

"Interesting," River said, standing. "Let me look into some things."

She went to walk out and Natalie said, "Wait…there was this. This was with me when I was found."

Natalie reached down her shirt and pulled out a turtle-shaped necklace. A locket. She clicked it open, her fingers shaking as she pulled out a small piece of paper that had been folded several times.

A business card. I could feel a small pulse of magic coming off of it as she handed it to River.

"It’s the only clue I’ve got. I've looked for that insignia everywhere and I’ve never found anything."

River looked at the card. It was a pink embossed capital letter "N", with a water lily next to it. Obviously, Natalie had carried it in that locket for a long time, as it had permanent creases where it had been folded.

"That’s why they called me Natalie. They just picked a name that started with N."

River chuckled, turning it over in her hand. The other side was blank. "Curiouser and curiouser," she said to herself.

Then she took the card and ripped it in half.